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Dear papaya fans,

As we enter the first few weeks of 2026 and an exciting new era for Formula 1, I wanted to take a moment to speak directly to you, our incredible papaya family around the world. Over the winter break, I took some time to reflect on what was a truly landmark season for McLaren Racing. I am immensely proud to lead this iconic team, and what we have achieved together in 2025 is nothing short of historic.

Together, for only the ninth time in our illustrious history, and for the first time since 1998, we clinched both the Formula 1 Drivers’ and Constructors’ World Championships. It had been a long 17 years since our last Drivers’ title, so this truly marks a key milestone in our ongoing quest. So, first and foremost, I want to take a moment to congratulate the whole McLaren Racing team and the many people who give their all to deliver these achievements for doing an awesome job. Moments like this are why we go racing, they will stay with us forever.

Across a 24-round season and in a sport as competitive as ours, momentum naturally swings back and forth. Yet the numbers for Lando and Oscar tell the story of an incredible season: seven victories each, and a combined 13 Pole positions - seven for Lando, six for Oscar. Between them, they led more than half of the laps raced in the season (825 laps) and enjoyed an incredible 34 podiums. They amassed a remarkable 833 points, with only 13 between them at the end of the season. It’s been an absolute privilege to witness their evolution as drivers - their teamwork, their ability to adapt and learn, and their outright speed.

This success has been achieved through the combined efforts of all our exceptional people, trackside and across every department at the McLaren factory, led by Andrea Stella and our brilliant leadership team. Behind every victory, every podium, and every point, are hundreds of people who work tirelessly to design, build and create our cars, to test them in the wind tunnel and on the simulator, and to make decisive calls under immense pressure, whether they are on the pit wall or back at the factory in Mission Control.

Of course, the teamwork required to go racing goes far beyond the race team itself. Our Commercial department provides the team with the tools, technology and financial means required to compete, our Finance department ensures we operate within the cost cap and are efficient in how we spend our resources, and our People team underpins the culture we have built at McLaren Racing, cultivating the high-performance mentality that has been central to our success, creating an environment where the best people can come and do their very best work. I want to thank everyone for the complete commitment and focus required to win a Formula 1 World Championship.

Finally, we share the double Championship with our valued partners and shareholders, whose support and trust in the team has enabled us to compete at the highest level, and with Mercedes-AMG High Performance Power Trains, whose best-in-class power units put us in a position to compete at the sharp end. To everyone who played a part - thank you. You’ve helped us write a chapter that will forever be part of this historic team's legacy.

The decider in the desert

We are racers, and we were determined to give Lando and Oscar a fair and equal opportunity to go for the title. And we accomplished that - the Championship ended up going down to the wire and was decided in the final laps of the final race of the year. It definitely kept us on the edge of our seats and made for some very tense times on the pit wall, but we wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Oscar and Lando pushed each other to new heights – they were fiercely competitive but always raced in the right spirit. It was intense, dramatic, and at times nerve-wracking. But for these two incredible talents to both have an opportunity to secure the Championship in the final race says everything about how we go racing at McLaren.

This culture, and the freedom to race your teammate with respect and integrity, runs deep in McLaren Racing’s DNA. Behind the scenes, an enormous amount of work went into ensuring both drivers had a fair shot going into the final race, and you can see from the way they behaved after crossing the line in Abu Dhabi how much mutual respect they have for one another.

I want to congratulate Lando on becoming the 35th driver to fulfil a lifelong ambition of becoming a Formula 1 World Champion, and the eighth to do so with McLaren. He joins an extraordinary group of legends that include Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Mika Häkkinen and Lewis Hamilton.

Lando first joined us as a Development Driver in 2017 – at only 17 years old, he was raw, but bursting with natural talent and we 100% believed in his potential. He has grown with McLaren, making his full-time debut two years later, and, as of the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix, has started more F1 Grands Prix for McLaren than any other driver in history. It’s been fantastic to witness his evolution as a driver, and when he crossed the line in third place in Abu Dhabi, it was an emotional moment for us all, one that none of us will ever forget.

Oscar also deserves immense credit. He drove an unbelievable season. It’s easy to forget that he has contested only three Formula 1 seasons to date - he drives with an experience and skill that belies his years and conducts himself with the utmost professionalism and respect. We knew we had a star on our hands from the moment he arrived, and it has been a pleasure to watch him blossom into a title challenger in such short order.

I have no doubt his star will continue to rise in the years to come, and I want to thank him for playing such a crucial role in delivering our second consecutive Constructors’ Championship under the Singapore floodlights, with six rounds to go.

Our rivals deserve recognition, too. Red Bull and Max Verstappen pushed us all the way to the final round. In the final year before a major rule reset, the competition was fiercer than ever, but we relished the fight. There were challenging moments along the way, and we definitely made some mistakes that played into the hands of our competitors - which are important to acknowledge - but these were dealt with swiftly and provided valuable lessons that made us better as a team.

We are racers and have been in this sport long enough to understand that s*** happens, and it’s part of the game - what’s important is how we react in these situations to help drive us forward. When we make mistakes, we take responsibility. We address difficult situations directly, openly and constructively, ensuring we move forward stronger and more aligned.

The lessons we learned last year – and there were many – are a part of our constant evolution as a team and will undoubtedly make us better prepared. We’re a relatively young team, but we learn quickly, and we bounce back with vigour and purpose. Championships are won by how teams respond under pressure, and I am proud of how we handled those more challenging moments.

Racing around the globe

That papaya spirit extends far beyond Formula 1. Across all our racing series, this has been a year of ambition, growth and achieving major milestones.

Our IndyCar programme has continued to build momentum. Pato O’Ward, Nolan Siegel and Christian Lundgaard have all shown great pace and fought at the front. Pato continues to progress with us and enjoyed his strongest season yet, winning twice - in Iowa and Toronto - and becoming more consistent. He finished as Vice-Champion, and once again came close to an Indy 500 victory, securing another top-three finish. He and Christian, who had an excellent first season with the team, also amassed Arrow McLaren’s most podiums in one season, with six each for the No. 5 and 7 Chevrolets.

We’ve taken important steps forward both on the track and behind the scenes - our investment in a new Indianapolis facility is a clear statement of intent. We’re getting closer to our ultimate goal: winning the Indy 500 and securing the Championship. The foundation is strong, and we’re heading into the 2026 season with real optimism.

This year also marked an important strategic shift within our racing activities. Our journey in Formula E concluded in the summer, and I want to once again thank the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team for doing us proud over the past three seasons.

At the same time, our return to top-class sportscar racing has begun to take shape. Revealing our new hypercar at Le Mans last summer - 30 years after our last victory there - signals a clear commitment to re-establishing McLaren as a strong contender in endurance racing. With WEC's continued growth and strong manufacturer base, it’s the right long-term move for our racing strategy.

In F1 Academy, Ella Lloyd finished the season fourth after securing an excellent win in Jeddah. She will be joined by Ella Stevens in a second McLaren-backed F1 Academy entry in the upcoming season, while we have also added Ella Häkkinen to the Driver Development Programme for 2026. Additionally, we have further bolstered the ranks of our young talent with Formula 2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli joining alongside Richard Verschoor, up-and-coming F3 racer Matteo De Palo, and 15-year-old karter Christian Costoya. I cannot wait to see these talented young drivers grow with us over the months to come. 

Taking on 2026

We are only two weeks into the new year, but we have been in the detail of 2026 for a good while, and there is a lot to look forward to.

The reigning Champions label counts for little when we are all faced with a regulatory reset. The new regulatory era in Formula 1 will bring new challenges as the competitive landscape evolves, but our aim is to build on the foundations that brought us success in 2024 and 2025 and maintain the high standards required to compete at the front. No one can possibly predict at this stage how the field will shape up in the opening races, but Andrea and his leadership team have been quietly working hard in the background for a long time now to give us the strongest possible chance to get off to a strong start.

Finally, throughout my time at McLaren Racing, it has been you - our fans - who have remained a constant source of motivation. Whether at the track or at home, in the grandstands or at major events such as the F175 Live event, the Goodwood Festival of Speed, or McLaren Racing Live in London, your passion and commitment have energised us, reinforcing the responsibility we carry in representing this storied brand. We will never take your support for granted, and we are determined to continue delivering performances you can be proud of.

Thank you for cheering us along and for your dedication to McLaren Racing. 2025 was a monumental season for us, but I truly believe that the best is yet to come.

Cheers,

Zak